Stony and Pamela, a young married couple, move from Maine to Europe for a few years. They live sporadically in various countries until they end up in a barn somewhere in France. Pamela has a stroke, something she experienced one other time in her twenties but never told Stony about, and she's taken to a hospital. Stony doesn't speak French so he can't really understand how bad things are. She eventually dies, and Stony takes her ashes with him to England. He drinks the summer away before returning to Maine to the house he had just rented for them and the job that he'd left behind. When he shows up at the house he's renting, he finds it in pretty mediocre shape. It has none of the charm of the ancient farms and apartments of Europe. The house is also full of cigarettes and dirty laundry, and the landlord refuses to clean it up. After a small tiff, they agree that Stony can hire a cleaner and take it out of the rent. By March of the next year, Stony is dating someone new. Mostly just because, not out of any feelings for the woman. In May, the lease is up, and he moves to a new apartment. The landlord asks him where her old belongings are, including some important documents she never mentioned. He goes back to help her move things around and realizes he may have been a little harsh with the items and detritus of this woman's marriage and life.